10 Responses to “Wrong Turn – Episode 56”

It’s very difficult for me to imagine that no one else has taken the time to comment on this summary/movie. Let me say that I really loved this film. I thought it was excellent, with good characters, a terrifying pace, and…yeah, Eliza Dushku is gorgeous. When I originally saw it, they closed the theater curtains during the credits and I was absolutely impressed that there wasn’t a terrible “It’s not over!” ending. However, once I bought the dvd and watched it, I was incredibly depressed that they didn’t just make a fine film, but left a ridiculous open-ending so that it could be (what I consider) that bane of good horror…a franchise.

The problem with the franchise is basically the rule of returns. As each movie makes a bit less money, the producers seem to care less and less about story and character, and more about just cranking something out for no reason other than to get whatever they can from the distributor. Eventually, you end up with Pumpkinhead 5 or Halloween 5, both of which just feel like no one gave a damn about making a good movie, only doing a lower budget, less caring (can we discuss caring when talking about horror movie? To hell with it, I will), rehash of the original with none of the thought having to go into the film than just being on time and on budget. I hate that.

This is the thought process that would eventually bring about the spate of useless sequels that have plagued us for the last several years. The worst, for me, is taking smart, well-characterized foreign films and making spoon-fed, stupid PG-13 copies with none of the strengths of the original, but emphasizing any weakness.

The older videos just weren’t getting the comments yet. Thanks for taking the time to check out the archives. There are some gems back there.

The funny thing about horror franchises is they don’t need to leave this wide open cliffhanger or obvious ending to show they can make others if they choose. They can tie up the story and then return if they need be. I think too many film companies worry about setting up for the next movie and forget that they have to make a good first movie.

Franchises can be good and bad, although lately I feel they are going more towards the bad almost all the time. Back in the day, the Friday the 13th and Nightmare and Elm Street sequels kept trying to one up the previous. They often had more kills and tried to mix in a heavy dose of creativity. (Freddy escaping into the real world, Jason leaving Crystal Lake) Now you have the first movie in a series do well theatrically and then they start releasing direct to DVD sequels that, like you said, keep getting a smaller and smaller budget.

Although PG-13 is one of the worst things to happen to horror. There was a time when PG-13 was a good thing. It allowed directors that had a movie that was just a bit above PG but not enough to be R a way to get their movie made without compromise. Now, it is a way of taking an R rated film and diluting it to PG-13 to get that sweet spot of younger film goers. Even worse is when the movie does poorly they don’t even bother to release the uncut version of the film on DVD so many good movies are stuck in this weird limbo. There is a good movie out there but the producers don’t want us to see it.

Foreign remakes suffer 99% of the time. Most often they give it to a new director who doesn’t give a rats ass about the property, he just wants to showcase his talent. I get infuriated every time I hear an interview where they say something like “the original is great but what we want to do is…” which is usually followed by them explaining how they have no understanding of the original at all.

I thought the narration and pacing was a little too slow with this one. (and like I said on YT, some of the jokes in American cyborg too short!) There’s a balance in there somewhere!

Thanks for the review. Not really interested in this kind of slasher movie tho. Seen enough, so it’s good to see a condensed plot of what I’m “missing.”
Sleepaway Camp probably the only slasher on my to-see list at this point.

I’m still not sure what happened with this one, I think I may have had a summer cold. I go back and listen to this and I cringe at all the gaps. Its a shame, I think it is a solid episode but it needs a better edit. This episode is over 2 years old and I’ve become a much better editor since then. The thing that really bums me out is this is my most watched video and it is also one of my worst paced ones. I’m sure I’ve had a bunch of people who saw this as one video and chose to not watch any others.

As for timing and what not, sometimes things just don’t work out. I am cranking these out pretty much by myself (Eric helps with the intros and other AE stuff) but the brunt of the work comes down to me. That’s hours of taking notes, writing, editing, keyframing, etc. Sometimes either I can’t get a clip right or I have to move on for one reason or another. Often stuff hits the cutting room floor (digitally) because I just don’t have time to work on it anymore. Sometimes, its like 3 am and I just want to get the episode finished and uploaded so I can go to bed. I don’t do this for a living, so if something ends up slightly imperfect I just have to deal. What might be an additional few seconds of video could be another hour or so of work. I like these to be as good as possible and I put a ton of work into them. However, with trying to keep a schedule, often I have to just pull the plug. (this is not written to be hostile, I’m just letting you know that sometimes thing just don’t work out the way I want them to) Maybe if I did this full time I’d be able to dedicate more to them.

Thanks. This is a well put together slasher and the sequel is great too. After that though, they lose it. A shame, the franchise had much potential but they chose to go the quick and dirty route.

Sleepaway Camp is awesome. Felissa Rose is super cool too.

EDIT: oh and American Cyborg I was under a monster time crunch, one of the reasons why it is so short. I cut at least 3 minutes of content because I just didn’t have the time.

Hey, I was just re-watching some older episodes an thought I would comment. I really like this movie. I thought everyone involved did a great job. I wish this had launched Dushku’s post-Buffy career. I still say that she would be a great Electra. Unlike that other one.

I never really got into Are you afraid of the dark or Goosebumps so I’m not so up to speed on them. I have a lot of people asking for retrospectives on both of those but I would probably do something on Monsters or Friday the 13th the series first, since I am more familiar with them.

If they ever put the series on Netflix I’d gladly check it out. Right now they only have a best of DVD set with a few episodes.